Zcash bug raises supply doubts as Hayes exits full ZEC bag

Zcash came under fresh market pressure after founder Zooko Wilcox disclosed details of a critical bug in the Orchard shielded pool. Shielded Labs said security researcher Taylor Hornby found the issue on May 29 and in a local test used the exploit to create unlimited counterfeit ZEC inside Orchard without detection, a tool that could have worked on mainnet before the fix.

Zcash Open Development Lab led an emergency response with other ecosystem teams; the fix paused Orchard activity and, after an upgrade, restored it with corrected code by June 2. Because Orchard protects transaction privacy, cryptography alone cannot prove whether anyone used the bug before the repair, Shielded Labs said, though it called prior use unlikely.

The group is exploring a network upgrade that would add a new shielded pool and turnstile accounting to let anyone verify supply integrity; the proposal needs more detail and community support and will be explained further next week.

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